Rosamund Pike Reveals She Was Asked to Strip Down to Underwear During James Bond Movie Audition

The 'Gone Girl' actress recalls how she refused to drop her dress for the audition but still landed the role of Bond girl Miranda Frost in 'Die Another Day'.

Aug 18, 2018

AceShowbiz -
Scoring a role in a James Bond movie must be a dream for many aspiring actresses, but even for such coveted part Rosamund Pike wouldn't not sacrifice her dignity and principle. The British star reveals she was asked to take off her dress and strip down to her underwear during an audition for "Die Another Day", but she refused to follow the request.

"My first audition was for a Bond film and I remember them saying I was to drop my dress and appear in my underwear," the "Gone Girl" star says in an Amazon's Audible Sessions interview, as reported by The Independent. "On the day, I don't know how I got the resolve and strength of mind, but I just thought if they're gonna see me in my underwear, they better give me the job. So, I thought, 'There's no way I'm going to take off a dress in the audition for this tape to be sent around Los Angeles and to be judged on that.' "

Pike, who was just 21 years old at the time, showed up for the audition in a dress her grandmother gave her, but the costume designer had a different idea of what an "evening dress" should be. The "Jack Reacher" star remembers the costume designer's reaction, "He said, 'That's a very beautiful dress, but in Bond films we wear things a little more like this,' and he held up three pieces of string and I realized I was way out of my depth."

She changed her clothes, but didn't take it off. "So, I put on this shimmering sheath, or whatever the order of the day was, but I didn't drop it," she said. Pike eventually landed the role of Bond girl Miranda Frost in 2002's "Die Another Day".

Pike added though that "there wasn't an ounce of feeling uncomfortable while I was on that set." She thanked on-set female producer Barbara Broccoli for the good experience, saying, "I look back over my experience on the Bond film and think, my goodness [producer] Barbara Broccoli was way ahead of all this #MeToo movement."